Beyond the Veil
by MugiwaraWannabe
Summary: When a newspaper article says that the Veil leads to another universe, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Neville and Luna must enter it in search of Sirius Black. There, they will find danger, adventure... and a certain pirate crew. Rated T for possible violence. Canon pairings.
1. Prologue

**Hi, guys! It's been a month since I last came on Fanfiction. Partly because I had been recovering from a severe bout of the influenza A9N1, otherwise known as Outward Bound( you'll know if you've been reading NemesisGoddessOfRevenge's Ghost, or ZakuraSymphony's- what was it again?- Lunatic IE Trip To Hawaii.)and partly because my brain has reached a dead end in Pirate Princess.**

**Oh, don't worry! I'm not planning on putting TPP up for adoption, or abandoning it to live on the streets, so to speak. I'll just shove it aside for a while until my writer's block is cured. (Or until ISPSAN- International Society of Prevention of Story Abuse and Neglect- comes to get me.)**

**Thankfully, my writer's block only applies to TPP and not to other stories. You'd be glad to know (or not) that I have loads of other ideas for Fanfictions! One of them is this Harry Potter/One Piece crossover. You lot probably know that, as that's the reason most of you are here in the first place( unless you're one of my classmates. Some of the inside jokes here only the people in my class will understand)**

**Anyway, you're probably dying of boredom here, so I'll make this quick: Thanks to KobitoDukan, ZakuraSymphony, SoraSymphony and Roze Hime-sama. No offense, Roze, but your new name is a lot odder than NemesisGoddessofRevenge; I'm still wondering if Zakura or Sora hacked your account.**

**Disclaimer: One Piece belongs to Eiichiro Oda, and Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling.**

* * *

Arthur Weasley was having trouble staying awake.

Yes, he should have been wide awake then as he guarded the door to The Department Of Mysteries. Yes, it was an important job assigned to him from The Order Of The Phoenix, and he should have been alert and awake as he sat there. Yes, he should had been _particularly _alert and awake as he sat there as he had been bitten by the newly late You-Know-Who's snake Nagini (also newly late) at that exact same spot two years ago.

Still, he couldn't help but feel sleepy. His eyelids drooped. He forced them open. They drooped again.

After about ten minutes of this, Arthur began to wonder: what was it so important inside that they wanted him to guard? There was nobody to guard against! You-Know-Who was _dead_! Sure, there were a couple of Death Eaters still around, but the most powerful ones had all been captured. Surely they couldn't come in here.

Besides, the Ministry of Magic had enough guards to begin with. Kingsley Shacklebolt, being, well, Kingsley Shacklebolt, had employed no less than 300 professionally, highly trained wizards and witches (aka Aurors) to guard the Ministry. Why Mr Weasley was still needed, he wasn't sure.

It surely wouldn't hurt if he dozed off for a while…

With that, Arthur Weasley's head dropped abruptly, as if he were doing a supporting role for Les Miserables, and fell asleep.

It was a good thing that he did, for if he hadn't he would have seen the figures creeping towards him down the looooong hallway.

And if he had seen them, he would have caught them in the act, and there wouldn't be a story in the first place.

These six figures seemed to be Dementors, if you looked at them from a distance. If you observed them closely, however, they would reveal themselves to be stumbling, cursing Dementors which had a hard time of convincing you that they were Dementors.

As they advanced towards the slumbering man, the tallest Dementor of the pack tripped over the hem of its cloak/robe/trench coat. It let out a yelp as it went sprawling on the carpet.

Mr Weasley's brow furrowed. Why was it so noisy? It was four in the morning. Even the late shift workers had gone home already. He opened his eyes. The sight of five Dementors glaring at him gave him quite a fright.

"What…?" He reached into his pocket, took out his wand, pointed it at the Dementors with a shaking hand, then dropped it, tried to pick it up but dropped it again in his haste, and finally pointed it up at them again. " Expecto Patr-"

In a sudden movement, all five of the Dementors drew wands and yelled in unison, "STUPEFY!"

BANG! Mr Weasley slumped down onto the floor.

By this time, you might have noticed other peculiar things about the Dementors aside from their appearances. For one thing, most Dementors are of the same height. They move slowly and gracefully, and never make a single sound apart from their breathing. They rarely sport wands, nor do they know magic apart from overwhelming people with despair. These Dementors did not give Mr Weasley that sense of misery, hopelessness, but he was panicking so much at the time that it did not matter much to him what he was feeling.

By this time, you are probably sure that they were not Dementors. And you are correct.

Breathing heavily, the Dementors pulled off their fake Dementor cloaks/robes/trench coats( naturally bought from Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes- George obviously thought it amusing to create a Dementor costume so pranksters could scare the hell out of their friends with it), revealing themselves to be none other than the six that were here two years ago.

"Bloody hell, is that Dad?" Ronald Weasley stared at his passed out father. His stricken sister nodded.

"We shouldn't leave him out here, or a Crumple-Horned Shorkack could eat him," said Luna Lovegood thoughtfully. Nobody bothered to contradict her, although Hermione Granger rolled her eyes.

Harry Potter looked at the door Mr Weasley had been guarding. "Let's go in."

The others, including Neville Longbottom who was just getting to his feet, nodded.

Upon entering, the six of them found themselves in the room which they had fought in so long ago. It was different from the last time they'd seen it as Kingsley Shacklebolt had removed some of the items, but none of them wasted any time in looking around. The one thing at the other side of the room was the one that caught their attention: A fluttering black curtain over a dark archway. Hushed whispers seemed to be emitting from the drape as they crept towards it.

Harry stared at the grim archway now in front of him. It looked the same as it had before; and yet to him it seemed different.

Previously, he'd been sure that this very veil had taken away Sirius Black's life. Now, there might be hope that it hadn't.

And yet, how could he endanger his friend's lives again? Fred, Colin, Lupin, Tonks… so many had died for him in the Battle of Hogwarts. He couldn't risk that happening again.

Harry turned to the others; opening his mouth, he tried to say something, but found that he couldn't.

"No," said Ron sternly, patting him on the back. "We aren't going to go back. Just go with it."

Harry knew they would say that.

For a long time, the six friends stared at the dark archway, trying to see past it, to see where it led, and yet to no avail. They closed their eyes, imagining the dangers that they would face, and, one by one, the walked straight into the Veil, which swallowed them, before slowly fluttering back into place.

* * *

**Aaaaaaand there we go! Feel free to drop any reviews, good or bad, about my writing. You are also most welcome to give me ideas on what to write next; I've planned what to write for the next two chapters, but haven't gotten any further than that. Just try to avoid swearing, or I'll have to report you. **

**Whew, my fingers are aching from typing. And this is a short chapter already! I'm going to have to work on my typing posture. Ja Ne!**


	2. How It All Began

**I'm back!**

**I hereby acknowledge my classmates Roze Hime-sama(Still not getting over the weird name); ZakuraSymphony and SoraSymphony, or their shared profile, KirinoShindou; and Kobito Dukan. My Microsoft Word is going bonkers with all the Japanese names here; it thinks they're all misspells.**

**Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling. One Piece belongs to Eiichiro Oda.**

* * *

OK, wait.

Stop.

Back up.

You must be confused. Confused as to why Harry Potter, The Boy Who Lived after a huge effort and lots of sacrifices, who managed to drag his Living rump through seven books and eight movies, would just take his friends one day and jump into the black curtain that claimed his uncle's life, committing suicide.

You're wrong: Harry was not committing suicide (and dragging his dear friends with him). He was trying to do something to save his uncle's life.

_Really _confused?

Hang on. There's an explanation for this…

_It all began one fine Saturday morning after the Battle of Hogwarts. Once McGonagall had recovered fully from the war, she (being current headmistress of Hogwarts) insisted that life at the wizarding school return to normal. That meant the seventh-years had to go to school for three more months before graduation, despite all injuries and casualties from the battle._

_That would explain why that morning Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny were sitting in the Main Hall having breakfast when the post arrived. That would _not _explain why when Harry started reading the _Daily Prophet_, casually taking a sip of his pumpkin juice, his eyes widened as they reached the headlines and he spat a mouthful of pumpkin juice all over the newspaper._

"_What happened, mate?" an alarmed Ron reached over, trying to get at the newspaper, but Harry quickly snatched the newspaper out of his best friend's reach. As he read it, the expression on his face became disbelief instead of shock. He stood up, pocketed the newspaper and ran off in the direction of the common room, without taking a bite out of his bacon._

"_What was that?" his worried girlfriend asked her brother and Hermione._

_They quickly abandoned their breakfast (with the exception of Ron, who took an extra bite of his eggs before wistfully putting his fork down) and went back to the common room. There, they found it to be empty, before Neville came down the stairs to the boys' dorm. He spotted them and pointed up the staircase anxiously. "He's up there," he said. "I think he's gone out of his mind."_

_The three of them went up the stairs to find Harry lying on his bed, staring at the newspaper._

"_Harry-"_

_Wordlessly, he gestured at the newspaper. Ron, Hermione and Ginny crowded around it. As they read it, their jaws dropped and their faces slowly resembled one of disbelief._

SIGHTINGS OF THE LATE SIRIUS BLACK

Two years ago, the young teenagers known as Harry Potter, Ronald Weasley, Hermione Granger, Ginny Weasley, Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood broke into the Department of Mysteries section of the Ministry of Magic. There, they were cornered by He Who Must Not Be Named and his Death Eaters, only to be rescued by the Order of the Phoenix. Chaos erupted. There were no casualties, with the exception of Sirius Black, previously mistaken as a Death Eater and a murderer but later found to be innocent after his death. He fell into a black curtain known as the Veil, which claims lives when wizards or witches touch it. It has been compared to the Muggle substance known as "quicksand", in the sense that once one touches either one, there will be no escape.

Last Thursday, however, a strange event occurred. Guards stationed outside the Department of Mysteries reported screams coming from inside. Upon inspection, they found it to be the Veil, which was rippling and waving in a curious manner like somebody was trapped inside. The guards had to back up in order to not be swallowed by the hazardous curtain.

Suddenly, the outline of a hand appeared on the curtain. Then followed another hand, and a man's face pressed upon it. Later descriptions of the face revealed it to be Sirius Black.

Black's hands clawed at the curtain, and the man screamed like he was in pain. "We were terrified," said one of the guards, Harry Osborn. "The man seemed to be suffering from a terrible ordeal. We didn't know how to help."

After a few minutes of this, Black loosened his grip on the curtain. "He… fell back," said another shaken guard, Howard Stark. "He just… fell. When he let go of the Veil, his whole imprint disappeared. The screaming stopped."

Doctor Xavier, head of All Things Mystical and Mysterious, quotes, "It could have been his ghost, but that's not likely. One thing's for sure after this: further research on the Veil is needed."

_Ron gaped at Harry. "But that doesn't mean- but you said-"_

_For the first time since Ginny started reading the article, Harry looked up. There was a mixture of fiery determination and longing in his eyes. "I'm going after him."_

_Hermione frowned. "After who? Doctor Xavier?"_

_Harry pounded his fist. "No! Sirius! It all makes sense now!" He got off his bed and started pacing the room. "After the war, I started feeling this… tingling in my heart. At first I thought it was missing Fred, and Lupin, and Tonks, you know? But then I started dreaming about Sirius. He was telling me to look for him, remember, Ron?" Ron nodded, remembering the time he got woken up by Harry several times in the middle of the night, who was always screaming about godfathers and stones. "I thought they were just nightmares, triggered after seeing him in the Stone again. And now, this!"_

_Ginny watched him nervously. "But Harry, you saw him in the Stone, remember?"_

_Harry stopped and looked at his girlfriend thoughtfully. "That's a good point, Ginny. I'll figure that bit out later."_

_Hermione looked about to tear her bushy hair out. "But Harry! You can't just leave!"_

_Harry frowned. "Of course I can. Who can stop me?_

"_We're coming with you!"_

_True friends: always the quickest to understand that your dead godfather is actually not dead yet and you have to rescue him. Harry already knew he couldn't budge them once they'd made up their minds to join him, and they already knew they couldn't budge him once he'd made up his mind to jump into possible death. That was why all he said was "see you in the common room in five minutes," and all they did was nod and rush to their respective dorms._

_In the end, it was thirty minutes, after Neville decided to join and Ginny said now that all five of them were there, it seemed rude not to invite Luna as she'd played a part in the rescue before and they had to run to Ravenclaw and wait for her to pack. At long last, they were outside Hogwarts._

_Harry turned and looked at Hogwarts. "We'll be back soon with Sirius, I'm sure," He whispered to himself. Then all six of them went to the forest, found Thestrals(thanks to the war, they could all see them) and flew away, over the clouds._

So there you have it. The beginning of a long adventure, where peril and romance awaits. For in another universe, another galaxy, the sun was just rising as the young wizards came towards it. In this other galaxy was a planet somewhat similar to Harry's, except this was larger and had more sea.

This sea was called the Grand Line. And on the Grand Line, as the sun rose, awaited a very special pirate crew.

A pirate crew waiting for them.

* * *

**So there you have it! Chapter 2. Hopefully you like this chapter as much as the last one! Feel free to drop any comments or writing ideas. I'll be happy to listen to your compliments! (And complaints.) **


	3. The Forest Again

**Hello, people!**

**Some of you might have read my (crappy) Superman Oneshot that I published earlier this week, but if you haven't, don't read it. It's kinda awkward.**

**I've decided to continue writing The Pirate Princess. Be warned, though: you might not like how it turns out. Just give me a while to think of what to write next.**

**I'm also writing a OneShot for Harry Potter. It's quite long (in my opinion) so give me a moment.**

**Lastly, I'm doing research on Natasha Romanova, Matt Murdock and Clint Barton to write a fanfiction. Heads up if you know who they are. If you don't, never mind.**

**As you can see, I'm quite busy. Tell that to our school (who's keeping our hands full with primary school graduation baloney), my Chinese teacher (who's keeping our hands full with homework when we're five days away from graduating) and our Music teacher(who's keeping our hands full with Les Miserables balderdash. Somehow, she's convinced that supporting characters holding hands and twirling in a circle happily during the sad song On My Own is perfectly normal. Good grief!) So I might not be able to update as frequently. Sad.**

**I give my thanks to HRH Roze Himesama; the lovely Kobito Dukan (I know what you did back there in your new HP OneShot. Grrr); SoraSymphony; and ZakuraSymphony.**

**Also, JK Rowling owns Harry and the gang; Eiichiro Oda owns the Straw Hats. Or do the Straw Hats own him?**

* * *

It was like the Forest all over again.

The way it was so dark, he could not see his hand as he held it up in front of him. The way it was so, so eerily quiet, he could only hear his heartbeat. The way he was scared of dying alone in the dark, except then he'd been standing alone, surrounded by a circle of Death Eaters and now he was floating in nothingness. He didn't even know if he was dead or alive, or whether the portal worked.

But then, he wasn't alone.

He heard and saw nothing, but he felt his friends beside him in the dark. He knew they were there.

They'd said so.

He felt comforted he had such true friends.

An eternity later, a hole appeared out of nowhere in front of him. It was a portal of sorts, he estimated. Light streamed out of it, illuminating him and his friends. In it, fluffy white clouds floated against the backdrop of a beautiful blue sky.

The hole came closer and closer to them.

_So this is it_, thought Harry as it drew near to him. _Sirius._

The hole swallowed him, and he looked down to find himself staring at a beautiful blue sea.

Gravity overcame him, and he fell.

* * *

Back in the Ministry of Magic, in the Prime Minister's office, a certain frazzled-looking red-headed man was explaining something wearily to a few dozen guards surrounding him.

"Are you positive that you were knocked out by six Dementors?"

"How many times do I have to tell you, McJagger? _They weren't Dementors! _I couldn't feel a thing next to them-"

"What in the _world _is going on here?"

A very sleepy and annoyed Kingsley Shacklebolt pushed past the guards, still in his pajamas. Everyone else turned to him and began talking at the same time.

"Minister, there's been-"

"Kingsley! Just when we-"

"Sir, the most terrible thing-"

"Weasley here was overpowered-"

"McJagger, _they weren't Dementors, how many times_-"

"Stop!" Kingsley's deep voice boomed. "One at a time."

Arthur sighed and ran his fingers through his hair.

"As you know, Kingsley, I was guarding the door to the Department of Mysteries this morning, and as I felt rather tired, I dozed off for a few minutes. When I woke up, six _unconvincing_ figures in Dementor cloaks were standing in front of me. Having just woken up, I fumbled for my wand and was about to conjure a Patronus when they drew their _own _wands and Stunned me. Which proves my point, provided that Dementors usually don't operate wands, nor do they swear colourfully or trip over the hem of their robes!" Here, he glared at the guard known as McJagger who, who shrunk back a little.

"Did you check the room?" Asked Kingsley, ignoring the two wizards' non-verbal exchange entirely.

"That's what worried me, Kingsley. The door was left ajar when I came to, and when I looked in, nothing had been seemingly touched. The only item seeming to having been touched… was the Veil."

All present shivered.

"Arthur, you don't think-"

The fireplace beside them glowed green. As soon as Minerva McGonagall stopped spinning and had dusted the ash off of herself, she climbed out, and from her expression Kingsley could gather that something was terribly wrong.

"They're gone."

"…What?"

"Potter, the two Weasleys, Granger, Longbottom and Lovegood. They're gone. They were last seen heading into the Forest with bags and whatnot. I am strongly suspicious of Finnigan, who told me they'd gone on a walk."

Arthur buried his face in his hands. "Oh, no, no, no…"

Kingsley looked grave. "Minerva, we were just discussing a break-in that occurred in the Department of Mysteries. Six people dressed up as Dementors stunned Arthur here who was guarding the door. The Veil has been tampered with."

Minerva was shocked. "No- not even Potter would be that stupid-"

"That is exactly my point, Minerva. Nobody's that stupid. Perhaps this has something to do with the issue of _The Daily Prophet _from yesterday?"

Minerva's expression melted from disbelief into that of horrified realization. "He didn't really-"

Kingsley sighed. "I'm going to sue _The Daily Prophet_. Just you wait."

* * *

**Sorry for lack of action in this chapter. I just had to put something between "they jumped into the Veil" and "they fell out the other side". This chapter doesn't mean much, I know. Sorry.**

**So, Straw Hats next chapter! Probably. Don't hit me!**

**Reviews are always welcome!**


	4. Luffy's Punishment

**Ok, so here I am, after having disappeared for, like, more than a month. Gulp.**

**Look, I have a perfectly good reason! I was enjoying my well-deserved summer holiday, AND I was undeniably busy. The first two weeks I went to one of those logic summer courses. Then, a quick break and we took a plane to the sweet radiation-filled motherland of our favourite anime/manga, Japan. When we got back, I was too busy doing my holiday homework. The others know- just ask them. As a matter of fact, I'm going to Phuket tomorrow, I just thought I'd be super nice and update first.**

**Most of you have been very supportive, saying stuff like "can't wait for the next update", "great work", "I hope to see more of your writing soon". Thanks a lot, guys! **

**Then again, there are those of you who aren't enjoying my absence. Or that's what I think you don't like. What else would make me a "weakass", a "coward like pre-timeskip 'Yes Alvida, no Alvida' Coby"? Or maybe you just don't like me. If you don't like me, go kick a wall or something. Don't break my fingers! I love my fingers!**

**Also, if you want to break my much-loved fingers, please don't follow or stalk me. I'll cut off my fingers and send them to you through the mail if you want. So from now on, no flame reviews, please! I don't like fire. That WaterWorld in Australia was fun, but I did NOT enjoy the fire ride. Ugh.**

**My thanks ****and utmost respect ****to Roze ****Hime-sama, who hurt her hand rock-climbing, has a piano exam tomorrow AND still finds the time to update her stories three times a week. She is my muse for this chapter!**

**Hmm, I wonder how the others are doing.**** Kobito Dukan**** and SoraSymphony both haven't updated for quite a while. ZakuraSymphony, at least, found inspiration for a horror story in a box of colouring pencils. I'll have to give you credit for creativity on that one.**

**Disclaimer: ****One Piece belongs to Eiichiro Oda**** of Japan (oh sweet radiation-filled motherland).**** Harry Potter ****is owned by J.K.**** Rowling**** of UK. (oh sweet motherland of One Direction! The Best Song Ever is the best song ever.)**

* * *

He was chasing a winged golden ball on a broomstick.

The golden ball glinted deliciously in the sunlight. It swooped dangerously close to the ground. He locked onto the golden ball. As it began to fly away, he began to gain speed, bearing on the ball. It grew closer… and closer…

_Yes!_

He dismounted the broomstick, grinning from ear to ear, tiny golden ball in hand. The crowd behind him erupted, but he paid no attention. He frowned as he examined it carefully in his hands. There was no mark on the ball.

Perhaps it was chocolate?

Or even better, a piece of golden meat?

_Yes! Yes!_

Slowly it entered his drooling mouth. He was about to sink his teeth into the Snitch when-

_Crack!_

"ITAIIIIIIIIIIIII!"

The youth fell of his hammock, clutching his arm in pain. He looked up to see a practically livid blonde man with hair covering half of his face and his swirly eyebrow, foot raised.

"Sanji!" scowled the raven-haired youth, sitting up and rubbing his arm. "What was that for?"

"You got that right," came an irritated, sleepy voice coming from somewhere to their left. "It's just five in the morning!"

Around them came the noise of grumpy people complaining.

"Shut up, Moss Head!"

"Oh, you're talking, Curly Eyebrow…?"

The two of them began fighting.

"Shishishishishi! You two are so funny!" The youth just laughed, grabbing his straw hat from the table.

"Luffy, you too."

Sanji broke free from the fight, glaring daggers at his captain. "From today on, you're washing the dishes every day."

Luffy's signature immediately vanished, replaced by a pout. "Why?"

He quickly received another kick to the head. "For eating all our food, that's why!"

_Sanji hummed as he poured his signature soup into the bowls. Tonight was the first night since they'd left Arabasta and "Robin-chwan" had joined their crew. He'd made six dishes (lobster, sea king head, sea king tail, shrimp, sea king fin, shark fin) to celebrate the occasion. Of course, Luffy would smell the food the way a shark is attracted to blood and would instantly eat all the food so he'd instructed Chopper to keep him distracted. The reliable little doctor would not fail to distract him, what with his reindeer antics._

_Unfortunately, the cook was unaware that at the same time he was preparing soup, Usopp was experimenting with his new-and-improved slingshot not far from said two, which succeeded in distracting them from distracting and being distracted._

"_Sugoi!" Screamed the pair of them, stars sparkling in their eyes._

_The sharpshooter grinned smugly. "Nothing that the great Captain Usopp can't do! For my next trick," he produced a strange-looking bullet dramatically from his pocket, earning the gasps of the two naïve pirates, "this is a Nioi Nioi bullet. When I fire it, you will experience the sense of smell in the sense of sight!"_

_The moment the bullet was fired at the sky, a yellow mist appeared. It led to the kitchen. _

"_Eh?" Out of curiosity, the rubber boy peered through the kitchen window. What he saw produced a pool of drool at his feet._

"_FOOD!" Sanji was lying out all the dishes on the table. Sure, there wasn't any meat, but that was acceptable._

"_Hoi, everybody!" Sanji called. "Dinner!"_

_Everybody headed towards the kitchen, excited. They all knew that Sanji was making something great and couldn't wait._

_When they got into the kitchen, however, the stopped short and gasped._

"_Yes, brilliant, isn't it?" asked Sanji with his back to them, putting the leftovers of the soup into the fridge. He turned to smile at them, but never quite managed to get there. The only thing on his face and everybody else's faces were a mixture of disgust, shock, horror and anger._

_The only thing they saw was empty dishes and a round, overstuffed Luffy rolling happily on the floor, exclaiming, "Boy, am I full!"_

_For a moment, no-one said anything. They just stared at the dishes, then their captain, then Sanji's livid face, then their captain again._

_Luffy got up, or attempted to anyway, smiling sleepily at them. "But I still want more. Sanji, can I have some meat?"_

_The cook's face turned absolutely purple with fury. "Over my dead body! Two meals a day for a week."_

"_NANI!?"_

It was already Day 6. Every night, a hungry Luffy would attempt to sneak out to the kitchen to steal a bit of food, and Sanji would catch him. Then the next morning, Sanji would throw him out of bed and give him a new punishment. In the beginning, Luffy only had to clean up after lunch and dinner- the only times during the day he was allowed to eat. By today, Luffy had to wash the dishes at breakfast, early morning snack, late morning snack, lunch, afternoon snack, tea, dinner , after-dinner treats AND wash the floors twice a day. You would suppose the rubber man would have learnt his lesson by then but no: even then, Luffy would complain about the unfairness of the amount of food he was allowed to eat, and even if he was being punished he was the captain and deserved at least twice of Robin's. Then, Sanji would either throw a dish at him or scream his head off at him. It was getting to be quite a routine and the Mugiwaras were sad to see it end.

"After all, it's nice for a change when Luffy doesn't dare make a fuss at dinner. Although the constant complaining and whining when he's not eating gets to me," commented Nami vaguely as she read the morning newspaper.

Zoro agreed. "You got that right," he grunted as he lifted his weights. He put them down and looked around curiously. "Speaking of which, where _is _the captain?"

Nami, too, looked around over her newspaper cautiously. "Luffy?" She slapped herself with her free hand. "Oh, darn it."

Sure enough, not more than a second later, the kitchen door flew open and Sanji threw a certain raven-haired rubber boy out. "Wash the floors again," he practically snarled.

Ever since they had left Arabasta, Sanji was acting more and more tense, and not just because of his irritating captain. He missed Vivi so much that even Robin didn't make up for it. The desert princess had meant so much to him that he became meaner and meaner towards Luffy even though he knew that he shouldn't.

Luffy whined as the door swung shut in his face. "But I'm tired! Sanji~"

The boy unwillingly dragged himself to his feet. Nami rolled her eyes and went back to her newspaper only to be interrupted by a loud splash nearby.

Nami groaned. "LUFFY!"

Surprisingly, the boy was still on board. "Eh? Did you make that sound, Nami?"

"Of course not- you idiot-"

Chopper, Usopp and Robin made their way over from the other side of the ship, curiosity evident in their eyes. "What was that?"

Nami shrugged." Dunno, it wasn't me."

Sanji came out of the kitchen. "Not me either."

Chopper leapt into Usopp's arms, shaking like jelly. "AAHHHHH! A GHOST!"

Usopp was shaking even more than the little reindeer. "D-don't worry, Captain Usopp is h-here-"

Zoro looked around, trying to locate the sentry sound of the splash. His eyes widened. "Is that-"

Everyone else turned. They went slack-jawed with shock.

Floating in the sea were six dead bodies.

* * *

**Oh, that's enough for now! Mwahahaha! Cliffhanger!**

**I've received complaints that last chapter was too short. Well, this chapter is almost seventeen hundred words long (5 pages long in Microsoft Word terms! Mwahahahaha), contrary to the thousand before; consider it a token of apology for not updating for a month.**

**Reviews are always welcome, just no more flames please. **

**Gosh, my fingers ache. And I already assumed a good typing position…**

**Guess Mrs Taylor was never that smart. **

**Ja Ne~**


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